Studying emotions in South Asia

Abstract

Emotions are not a new comer in South Asian studies. Putting them centre stage, however, allow for an increasing complexity and reflexivity in the categories we are researching: Instead of assuming that we already know what love, anger, or fear is and hence can use them to explain interactions and developments, the categories themselves have become open to inquiry. Emotions matter at three levels. They impact the way humans experience the world; they play an important role in the process through which individuals and social groups endow their experiences with meaning; and they are important in providing the motivation to act in the world.This article introduces a collection of articles focusing on emotions in South Asia, extending from the classical period to the present and bringing together a number of disciplines, from literary and religious studies, to history, anthropology, and sociology. It provides an overview over the work that has been done in the field of emotion studies in the last decade with specific reference to South Asia. From there, it questions the relationship between theoretical and methodological reflections on how to study emotions, which until now have been developed mainly on the basis of European and American materials, and the study of South Asian emotions. Three topics stand at the core of the debate: the contribution of emotion to the creation of selves and communities; their place between the micro and the macro level; and finally the role of the non-representational in the study of emotions.